The Awakening

However, throughout ‘The Awakening’ Robert is described to be flirtatious, not only by the narrator but also by the characters “if your attentions to any married women here were ever offended with any intention of being convincing, you would not be the gentleman we all know you to be”. From this we can infer that many of the women that surround Robert know of his flirtatious nature, including their husbands, and they also know that it is not to be taken seriously; until he meets Edna. Additionally, Madame Ratignolle goes on to say that if it was to be taken seriously he would be “unfit to associate with the wives and daughters of the people who trust you.” From this we can infer that a man being around married women was unacceptable and often frowned upon as women were considered a man’s property. This can be considered both representative and non-representative of conventional attitudes as Robert respects the social norms by ensuring that his advances are not considered serious, however, he disregards the social norms when his feelings for Edna are revealed.

Furthermore, Robert is presented by Chopin to be representative of conventional attitudes of the Creole Society towards the end of the novel when instead of going ahead with his dream of their perfect life, Robert leaves. His departure is often suggested to be because of the social barrier between them which made him realize that to ask Mr. Pontellier to set Edna free due to the social standing that women were property. It is through this event that Chopin presents the character of Robert to be conventional as he leaves instead of pursuing his feelings.

Overall, Chopin presents Robert to be a developing character that begins as being immature and a disregarder of social norms, however, as his feelings for Edna develop and grow so does it attitude to conventional attitudes; this is shown through his choices.